


got stars in your eyes

by twoheadlights (fizzfic)



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: First Date, Fluff, M/M, single parent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-10 18:56:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7857199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fizzfic/pseuds/twoheadlights
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>au where dan and phil meet in a planetarium and phil has twins who like the stars a lot</p>
            </blockquote>





	got stars in your eyes

**Author's Note:**

> for [charlotte's](http://danhowellz.tumblr.com/) 21st birthday. happy birthday, i love yoooooouuuu (kinda sorta maybe)
> 
> title from what a feeling by one direction

The planetarium is definitely a good idea. The twins remain well-behaved and point things out to Phil like, ‘Pa, thas’ a model of the _first_ ever space ship!’ and ‘ _Pa_ , why isn’t there a room for each planet of the solar system? And, and, what about all the other planets, huh? What about Alderaan?’

Maybe leaving out the fact that the _Star Wars_ universe is fictional wasn’t the way to go, but it got them so, _so_ excited. Their blue eyes lit up and they laughed and cried and groaned at everything Han Solo said. Simon even smirked at Phil when he paid slightly _too_ much attention to Harrison Ford talking (what? He’s handsome) and Sebastian said he could do better. He thinks they get it from their mother.

For their sixth birthday, they insisted on no party so Phil took them here. He dressed them up in t-shirts with their favourite planet on the front (Simon is Jupiter and Sebastian is Neptune) and socks with aliens on them.

They stop walking in front of a map of the place to see where they’re headed to. “So I’m thinking, we’ll leave the show for the end, right boys?” They don’t reply immediately. “Simon? Seb?” He looks down, but they’re not there. He turns a full round and checks behind a nearby pillar to see if they’ve hidden to wind him up. He frowns and tries not to worry about other people staring at him and probably judging him for being a horrible parent. It’s all he can do to not yell out their names and completely embarrass himself and them too, if they’re actually just close by and _not_ lost.

^

“We’re lost.” Sebastian insists.

“We’re _not_ lost.” Simon argues, gritting his teeth. They’re not. Pa just...must’ve wandered off. He’s done that before. It won’t take long to find him. “Maybe Pa went back to look at the night sky. He liked that a bit too much, didn’t he?”

Sebastian nods thoughtfully. “Let’s go there, then.”

But it’s not that easy, see. Every door in the place looks the same and there’s too many paths to take and not enough signs pointing to where they _want_ to go.

“Maybe it’s on another floor.” Simon suggests.

Sebastian stops in his tracks and crosses his arms. “You can’t make me leave this floor, no _way._  I’d rather stay lost on the same floor as Pa than on another one.”

Simon frowns. “What?”

“I...I dunno, I just don’t want to go down, okay?”

Simon’s not even listening anymore – he’s seen a mural on the opposite wall. He walks up to it, mouth hung open, eyes glued to the satellite on top and the earth next to it. His brother follows him, rolling his eyes and taps his foot impatiently. He’s mostly concerned that getting lost means they haven’t really turned six at all and Pa might tell their mum to never let them out of the house.

His stomach suddenly growls. It must be dinner time. Sighing, he walks to a wall and leans against it, sliding down to the floor. His brother pads along and sits next to him, placing his head on his shoulder. “D’you think he’s looking for us?” He asks.

Simon replies, “Yeah, ‘course. He’ll be here soon.”

“Excuse me boys, but are you lost?” A voice asks from above them. They look up to see an angel, halo above his head in the form of tiny stars and a bright light emitting from him.

^

“ _Announcement for Mister Phil Lester. Your two five–what? Oh._ Six _year old twin sons are at the information desk. Please collect them immediately._ ” There’s a second long pause. “ _Pa, hurry! They’ve got all this cool stuff here_ —” and then it cuts off.

Phil rolls his eyes but feels the tension leave his shoulders as he power walks to where the information desk is. From a distance, he can see a mop of ginger hair – Simon’s – and he practically sprints to them.

The boys are turned away from him so he grabs them from behind and holds them close.

“Pa!”

“Hey!”

“I was so _worried_.” Phil says, ignoring their pushing and squirming.

“Get _oofff_ ,” Simon complains, wriggling away from Phil's grip. “You'll emb-ress us in front of Dan.”

Phil frowns. “Dan?”

“That would be me. Hi.” A hand appears in front of Phil. He looks up and it's all he can do to not let his jaw drop to the floor. He has two dimples on his cheeks and a kind face. Phil takes his hand and uses it to get up – and this Dan is strong enough to not fall under his weight.

When he's stood up straight, he notices that Dan is actually quite tall, maybe the same height as Phil himself. His brown hair curls at the tips and two crescent moon shaped ear studs glint at him in the light.

 _He's so pretty,_ is all that's going through Phil’s mind. He notices some moles and freckles on his cheeks and exposed neck. _Like...like constellations or some shit_. He then calms himself down and says (slowly so he doesn't sound like he's literally dying from sprinting and having all the air in his lungs knocked out from just looking at this man), “Hey, thank you for finding my kids. I promise I'm not like, a horrible father.”

Dan laughs and shakes his head. “No worries, mate,” he replies. “They were alright. Told me you were the best dad for taking them here for their birthday.”

Phil smiles at his sons, who beam back at him. He takes both their hands and looks at Dan again. “Well, anyway. We have to go, it’s dinner time. In fact, past.” He says and Dan nods in understanding.

“I’ll see you.” He says, smiling, completely sure of his words. Phil hopes that means something. It’s been a while since anything _meant_ something.

-

“You met someone?” Olivia repeats, eyes wide.

Maybe telling your ex-wife about someone you’re attracted to doesn’t sound like the best idea, but Olivia and Phil go way back. Their divorce was anything but messy, their kids love them both equally, and they’re best friends before everything else. When he came out to her, she remained calm and asked if there was someone else. There wasn’t, she cried but accepted that their marriage couldn’t go on if he didn’t even feel attracted to her anymore. Simon and Sebastian were two. Phil and Olivia agreed that they shouldn’t be separated and that they should know both their parents. It was a good situation to be in and Phil will always be grateful for it. The twins live with him because Olivia is always travelling but sometimes she takes them with her.

“I didn't _meet_ him.” Phil replies exasperatedly. “I saw him. At the planetarium.”

“Typical.”

“I'm not sure he even likes men.” Phil continues disregarding Olivia's comment. “And he's kinda young.”

“How old?”

“Twenty five.”

“Phil. That's not _that_ young. C’mon, this is only the third time you've been interested in someone since the divorce and the first time you've called me about it. Why aren't you making any moves?”

He doesn't actually know. It's been three weeks. He's still thinking about Dan. The boys have noticed and are trying to get him to take them back to look at things they haven't before but very unsubtly implying that they'll bump into Dan.

So basically, Phil feels a bit like he's one of the twins in the Gemini constellation, the one on earth and his brother is in the sky except it's not incest-y at all, mostly because they want to finish looking at everything in the place but also they apparently like seeing their father being flustered around cute guys.

^

Simon suggests it, obviously. His brother thinks it’s a terrible idea, that Dan would never take them seriously, but no one ever listens to him so now he’s sat on the sofa next to Simon, watching him dial a number and put the phone on speaker. A few rings in, there’s a click and someone goes, “Hello, this is the Peter Harrison planetarium, my name is Daniel, how may I help you?”

Simon and Sebastian glance at each other and start giggling. “Daniel?”

“Hey.” Dan replies, sounding hurt. “Call me Dan. And if this is a prank—”

“It’s not!” Sebastian says quickly. He gives Simon a nod to do all the talking since this was all his idea anyway.

“Um, it’s Simon and Sebastian?” Simon says. “You know, we were at the pla-plantrium a while ago with our Dad and we got lost—”

“Oh yeah, I remember you.”

“Good!” Simon exclaims, grinning at Sebastian. “Okay, so our Dad really likes you and he doesn’t say it but he thinks you’re cute and we know you think he’s cute too—”

“Uh…”

“Could you call on this number again and ask him out? He’s too much of a weenie to do it himself.”

Dan snorts and then coughs to cover it up. Simon smirks like he always does every time someone laughs at his jokes.

“Well…” Dan says, seemingly mulling it over. “I’ll admit your Dad’s really cute, but...I don’t even know him. If I had to ask him out, where would I take him?”

That’s a good question. They look at each other, trying to figure something out. Sebastian thinks about everything he knows Dad likes. He looks around the lounge, and his eyes fall on the wall following the stairs covered in little lights that  make up the constellations of their zodiac signs, and at the ceiling where glittery stars hung from it, and the big poster that says, ‘Tired of Earth? Visit Scenic Space Now!’ and it hits him. He shakes Simon’s shoulder excitedly and says, “I got something.”

^

The phone rings and that’s unusual. School’s out so it can’t be them and they’re literally the only ones besides Olivia and Phil’s parents who know the number, the former of whom calls Phil on his cell phone and the latter of whom try to FaceTime him and the kids at 6am, never at any other time.

He picks up, and says, “Hello?”

“Uh, hi, is this Phil?” And the voice is...vaguely familiar but Phil can’t put a finger on who it is exactly. “I’m Dan. Dan from the planetarium?”

Oh.

Phil immediately panics. Why was Dan calling him? Did the twins do something at the planetarium and now they’re in trouble? Are they going to make Phil pay for something? “Um, okay, did my sons do something they shouldn’t have?”

“Not exactly. I mean, they gave me this number so I could ask you out but – I mean, forget I said that.” Dan sighs while Phil raises an eyebrow. “Anyway, um. Wanna go out?”

Phil bites his lip to stop his grin. “Uh, yeah.” He replies easily. “Yes, absolutely.”

“Okay, great!” Dan says enthusiastically. “We'll have the best time.”

-

“You can’t wear that.” Simon says as soon as Phil walks out, holding his plaid shirt. Sebastian nods in agreement.

Phil frowns at his sons, who’re leaning against the headboard of his bed, eating bowls of dry cereal shaped like crescent moons and stars. “Why not?” Phil asks. “It’s casual, but like, not.”

The boys set their bowls aside and get off the bed. They walk to Phil’s wardrobe and rake through his shirts. Phil steps back and sits on the edge of his bed, kind of amused and maybe a little annoyed. Sebastian suddenly gasps. “Simon!” He exclaims, pulling on the sleeve of a shirt to show his brother. Simon’s jaw drops and they both look at Phil, clearly judging him. Phil glances at the shirt and realises what one it is.

“What?” He asks defensively.

-

Dan had told Phil to meet him at the entrance of the planetarium at a time that’s definitely after hours. He arrives a little after seven-fifteen and the sun’s already gone and the moon is shining down on him (the sun’s light reflecting off the moon, his mind automatically supplies. _Nerd_ , his mind also adds. It sounds like Olivia when it says that). He gets out and walks to the gate to see Dan waiting for him.

“Wow.” Dan breathes, the second Phil walks up to him. “You look great.” So the twins made a good call. They found a really fancy shirt of his, navy with white spots on it that he’d even forgotten he had. He should buy them something for their half birthday.

“Took the words right out of my mouth.” Phil replies, because Dan looks... _great_. He’s wearing a red chequered shirt and Phil notices black stars on the collar and wonders if that’s on purpose. “So...we’re on a date at your workplace.”

Dan shrugs. They walk inside, hands bumping against each other. The planetarium is quiet and echo-ey. All the displays have dim lights on them, but mostly it’s dark. Phil wonders if Dan’ll get fired for doing this. He wonders if he’s actually worth that much to a guy who barely knows him. If he’s okay with that.

“I asked if I could close up today.” Dan explains. He takes Phil’s hand out of nowhere, making the hairs on his arm stand up and leads him to a lift. “And you know, for a few favours here and there.” He smirks at Phil’s confused expression. “I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what we could actually do, and while coffee’s great and your kids did mention you like it a lot—”

“My kids?”

“I’m not good at that.” Dan continues, disregarding Phil’s interruption. The lift stops and the doors open across from double doors. Dan spreads one arm out for Phil to get out and follows him.

A plaque on the door says it’s the auditorium and Phil knows that’s where the show on the big dome happens and his eyes widen as he realises what might be waiting for him on the other side. He pushes open the door and looks up as he enters and he’s pretty sure his eyes might fall out.

The projectors are on and they’re projecting the night sky on the dome. It’s covered in stars and some of the constellations are noticeable too. He stumbles a little, but Dan grabs his waist.

“So? Are you ready?” Dan asks. He leads Phil to the front row of the reclined seats and they sit (lie down?). It’s actually like they’re outside and Phil shuts his eyes and breathes in.

“This is so much.” He whispers. “I mean, it’s great but – what’s that?” He can hear Dan rustling beside him.

“Oh, nothing.” Dan turns to face him and he has a large bucket of...something in it. Phil takes a whiff and _holy mother of Arthur_. “Hungry?”

“You motherfluffer.” Phil says, digging his hand in and pulling out a fistful of popcorn. Dan laughs and it’s a very nice laugh, he notices. Loud, not in character for a place like this but still pleasant to hear. Phil laughs along and eats popcorn and—

“Wait.” He says. “How did you know I liked popcorn?”

“Take a guess.” Dan replies.

The twins. “Dang.”

“That’s all I know about you so far.” Dan says quickly. “They wanted to tell me more, but I said I want to save it for the date. So, shall we?”

Phil nods and leans back, looking at the stars.

-

“So, do you not swear?”

“I did, but then I had kids? What’s your zodiac sign?”

“Gemini. You?”

“Twins, how ironic. Aquarius.”

“The naked man pouring out water from a jug. Nice.”

“Appropriate. Wait no.” Phil bursts out laughing and shakes his head. “That’s not what I meant.” He splutters and glances at Dan who’s smiling at him weird. “What?”

“Nothing.” Dan says, still smiling. “I just realised I’m actually really enjoying myself. You’re a pretty good date, Phil Lester.”

“Thank you, Dan…” Phil widens his eyes in surprise. “I can’t believe I still don’t know your last name.”

“Howell.”

“Like a wolf.”

“Howl and this date is over.”

Phil grins. “You’re a pretty good date too, Dan Howell.”

-

(They go back to Phil’s house, where the twins are fast asleep and Dan spends at least twenty minutes staring at all the posters and stickers and plushies before Phil kisses him and leads him to the bedroom – where Dan laughs at the tiny stars on the sheets.)

**Author's Note:**

> [read and reblog on tumblr!]()


End file.
